knowing the Body by dealing with our flesh, our self, and our individualism

All the believers in Christ are members of the Body of Christ by their spiritual birth in the life of God. But do we know the Body in reality? Is the Body of Christ something real to us in our experience?

We may understand the concept of the Body of Christ, and we may mentally apprehend what it means. But does this affect our living? Do we really see the Body of Christ to the extent that we cannot live without the Body and we cannot be individualistic anymore?

For us to see the Body we need to grow in life and advance in our spiritual pursuit of the Lord (1 Cor. 3:1-2; 14:20). The result of our experience of life and our spiritual growth is that we know the Body.

Knowing the Body: dealing with the self and the flesh

What does it mean to experience life and to grow in life? We grow by enjoying the Lord and by reading His Word in a prayerful way, we also need to deal with the flesh, the self, and the natural man.

For us to grow in life and for us to see the Body of Christ we need to deal with our flesh, we need to allow the Lord to break down our self-opinion, and we need to allow the Lord to smash our natural life (Gal. 2:20; 5:24).

If we still live according to the flesh and in ourselves, we cannot know the Body. The life of the Body – Christ Himself – is in us, but if we still serve the Lord in our natural ability, this life cannot be manifested.

We need to allow the Lord to deal with our flesh, break our opinion, and put to death our natural life, so that the life within us would cause us to realize that we are members of the Body of Christ and we cannot live independently (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:4-6).

As the Lord deals with anything natural in us we have a realization that we need the support of the Body and the fellowship of the Body. When we live by the flesh, we don’t feel like we need the Body, and when we live in our self, we don’t feel that we need the sustaining of the church.

How much we need the Lord to shine on us and expose our flesh, our natural man, our natural ability, and anything of the self, that we would repudiate them and put them to death – so that we may see the Body and live as members of the Body!

Knowing the Body: not being individualistic

In order for us to know the Body we need to deal with our individualism – our desire to be left alone, our tendency to remain in ourselves, not being built up with others, and doing things our own way without fellowshipping with the other members of the Body.

Why are we individualistic? It is because we still live in the flesh, in the self, and according to our natural constitution, all of which are so capable and able to do things. Our individualism can be removed when we see a vision of the Body and we allow the Lord to deal with the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution.

This is to grow in life – to cooperate with the Lord to deal with anything that is natural in us, so that His life may be manifested and would grow.

How can we say that we see the Body?

You cannot just tell people, I see the Body! To know the Body is a very practical thing; it is something that is of the Lord and it affects our whole living.

Just as with every genuine experience of life, you don’t realize that “you see the Body”, but others realize that, and your living is just different: your vision of the world, the church, and the situations is governed by the vision of the Body!

Brother Lee in, The Experience of Life, points out at least three things that can be considered as “proofs of knowing the Body”:

We cannot be individualistic – before knowing the Body, our life, our work, our actions, our serving the Lord, and everything about us was individualistic. But when we grow in life and know the Lord in a deeper way, we get to know the Body of Christ and we realize that being a Christian is not an individual matter but a corporate matter. We cannot live without the Body, we need the fellowship of the Body, and we are in a sweet coordination with the other members of the Body. Those who know the Body cannot be individualistic.
We are able to discern whether others are in the Body. Only those who know the Body can see and discern whether others know the Body and live in the Body. When we live in the Body in a very practical way and we know the Body in a deep way, we can discern whether other people live in the Body or not. If we have absolutely no feeling about others in this respect, we need to ask the Lord that we would know Him as the Body more!
We recognize authority. To know the Body means that we recognize Christ as the Head and we submit ourselves to Him. Also, to know the Body means that we recognize the authority that God has set, the deputy authority, and we submit to one another in love. What is authority? Authority is simply Christ the Head revealed in the order of the Body of Christ. If we know and recognize authority, we are in the Body and we know the Body.

Lord Jesus, have mercy on us that we would grow in life and advance in our spiritual growth! Lord, cause us to see the Body and to know the Body. Save us from being individualistic, and build us up with the other members of the Body! Lord, have a way to deal with our natural man, our flesh, and our self, that we would go deeper with You to know You as the Body. We want to allow the life of Christ in us to be manifested for the building up of the Body!

References and Further Reading

Sharing inspired from, The Experience of Life (ch. 15), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Lead as Elders and Responsible Ones, week 6.
Hymns on this topic:
# Lord, to know Thee as the Body, / Is my desperate need today, / Oh, to see Thee in Thy members, / ‘Tis for this I long and pray.
# As for Thy way, O Lord, / I often am not clear; / I toward seclusion tend / And from the pathway veer.
# Build me, Lord, with other saints, / Independence ne’er allow, / But according to Thy plan / Fitly frame and join me now.